October, 2008

[SSM, Associated Press; 30 October] Swedish utility OKG has been criticized by the country's nuclear regulator for using cleaning staff to guard the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant when the alarm system was malfunctioning. For about a week in early October, OKG managers deployed 20-25 cleaning and...

The partners in the Chirundu Uranium Project joint venture in Zambia have decided that the project's feasibility study will be suspended due to current financial conditions.

[The Star, 31 October] Bruce Power is expected to announce an application to prepare a site for nuclear build today. The company's president and CEO, Duncan Hawthorne, is thought to be ready to announce the move at an event in the vicinity of the site, which sits alongside Lake Erie. The application...

Centrica has moved to raise £2.2 billion ($3.5 billion) towards the 25% stake it wants to buy in British Energy, which is at the centre of plans for four new reactors in the UK.

Australia' Petratherm plans to start drilling to recover geothermal energy in May 2009. It will provide some of the power to Heathgate Resources' nearby Beverley uranium mine.

India's largest power company has decided to approach Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) with a view to establishing joint ventures to build imported nuclear power plants.

Entergy has said that its planned separation of its non-utility nuclear business from its regulated utility business through a tax-free spin-off may be postponed due to the current global financial crisis. In November 2007, the company announced plans to create Enexus Energy Corp to be a standalone owner...

China's Yibin nuclear fuel fabrication facility has reached an annual output of 400 tonnes per year, according to China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). It is meant to reach 1000 tonnes per year in 2020.

A new research and development office opened in Beijing this week, focused on the task of assimilating AP1000 nuclear technology for mass deployment.

Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, met with the top management of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co (CGNPC) on 28 October to discuss the possible construction of the country's first nuclear power plant. He told them, "It is a very important project. Safety of a nuclear power plant for...

Sellafield Ltd has sent six unwanted shock absorbers from fuel transport flasks to a local scrap merchant to be recycled into the metals market, having proved them to be exempt from treatment as nuclear waste.

Nuclear recruitment drives around the world are drawing thousands of new workers into the sector. The initiative is being led by companies building or about to build new reactors, but extends to government organisations too.

Work is ongoing to find the cause of a gas explosion that rocked an outbuilding of the Quad Cities nuclear power plant early on 27 October. Owner Exelon said in an emailed statement that the plant's reactors operated normally at full power throughout, but that an explosion had occurred in the vestibule...

Maintenance outages at Forsmark 3 and Oskarshamn 3 have been extended after defects were found in control rods. The units, totalling 2323 MWe of capacity, are not expected to restart until the end of November or early December.

A series of seminars on "Nuclear Power Engineering - New Generation" has been held in the form of an international motor rally. Participants drove to various European nuclear power plants and organizations, at which they were given tours and presentations. The rally began at Russia's Leningrad...

Germany-based power giant EOn is to cooperate on research for the future of nuclear energy with France's main research institute. The move is another clear sign of EOn's commitment to the power source.

Recent market changes are a factor in a $72 million drop in the value of a gold and uranium mine. The values of both minerals have dropped since the mine's sale was negotiated.

First concrete has been poured for the first new reactor at the second phase of the Leningrad nuclear power plant (Leningrad II) in Russia. Four new units are expected to begin operating at the plant by 2018.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Co (CB&I) has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Westinghouse to build two nuclear power containment vessels.

Areva has been told to monitor its subcontractors more closely after it was discovered that one had supplied a pressure system part without properly following procedures.

Buttons produced at a factory in France for elevator manufacturer Otis have been found to be radioactive, as have metal components imported into Sweden. The source of the radiation has been traced back to a foundry in India.

The financial crisis is not expected to have a significant effect on the fortunes of nuclear companies. Areva and Exelon both posted results today, putting faith in the strong fundamentals of their businesses.

[AFP, 20 October] Iranian security forces have arrested two "spy pigeons" near the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, the Etemad Melli newspaper reported. One of the pigeons, which had some metal rings and "invisible" strings attached to it, was caught near a rose water production...

The nuclear power supply chain has been boosted considerably by the announcement of a new large component factory in the USA. Areva has teamed with Northrop Grumman for a joint venture to make parts for EPR units worldwide.

Some 155 kilograms of high-enriched uranium (HEU) research reactor fuel has been transported from Hungary to a storage facility in Russia by the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). It arrived yesterday.